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Psalms
125:1-5 A Song of
Ascents. Those who
trust in the LORDAre like Mount Zion, Which
cannot be moved, but abides
forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever. For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
On the land allotted to the righteous, Lest the righteous reach out their hands
to iniquity. Do good, O LORD, to those
who are good, And to those who
are upright in their hearts. As for such as turn aside to their crooked
ways, The LORD shall lead them away With the workers of iniquity. Peace be upon Israel!
Father God, give us the discernment when
reading your Word to comprehend what you are saying and help us to believe your
Word and not just bits and pieces. In
Jesus
name we pray, Amen!
Book of Hebrews 1:1-6 NKJV
This
Epistle to the Hebrews was written to the Jewish believers that had given their
heart to Jesus and turned away from the laws of the Old Testament (First
Covenant). Whether from persecution or false teachings they were starting to
waiver in their faith in what Jesus did for them on the Cross. They were
starting to migrate back to the animal sacrifices, circumcision, and the
ritualistic laws of old times. This letter refers back to the First Covenant
and compares how the New Covenant is the replacement for the old. This book
isn’t just for the benefit of the Jewish people of Paul’s time it is very much
for current times too. Just as the Jewish people were falling back to their old
beliefs and customs, we have modern day churches that are taking Jesus out of
the Gospel and replacing it with psychology. We have church’s teaching that if
you follow their rules, doctrine, and do good deeds they will be saved. Good
deeds are a result of being saved and a person wanting to do them out of love,
not because they will get them to Heaven. We can’t earn our way to Heaven, only
faith in Jesus Christ and what He did on Calvary will get us to Heaven.
There
have been great debates over who the author of Hebrews is. Some say it is Paul
while others say it resembles Luke’s style of writing. Most people lean toward
Paul as being the writer due to his vast knowledge of the Old Testament Laws. I
also lean toward Paul because of his knowledge of the old laws and also of his
revelation of Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. Because of Paul’s knowledge
he has been able to intertwine the Old Testament with the New Testament in all
of his other Epistles in a fashion that makes sense. This book of Hebrews is a
great book that compares both and shows us it is out with the old and in with
the new. The one thing that is odd, this Epistle doesn’t start out with a greeting
which is common for Paul. Hmmm!
If
this book was written by Paul, which I believe it was, it was written around 65
A.D. give or take a couple years, but no later than 68, because Paul was
executed in early 68 and also because the temple was still standing and there is
reference to the temple. The temple/Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. It was
written in Italy based on the last two verses of the book. Hebrews 13:24-25 Greet all those who rule over you, and all the
saints. Those from Italy greet you. 25 Grace be
with you all. Amen.
Let’s
get started and see what this great Epistle has in store for us.
1 God, who
at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the
prophets,
What this
verse is saying is that God communicated with His people during Old Testament
times in various ways. Depending on the circumstance of the people, God chose
how to communicate. At one time it was by history, then by prophecy, or poetry,
or proverbs, or by some solemn and special message, by visions, by dreams, by
law, or by the outcome of a battle like Jericho, and sometimes directly. God
spoke to Daniel through dreams and visions, Moses through a burning bush, David
through Nathaniel the prophet, etc. There are many instances in the OT where
God spoke, but what about now. The next verse tells us how He speaks to us now.
It is the difference in the old covenant vs. the new covenant.
2 has in
these last days spoken to us by His
Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the
worlds;
Has in these last days; In these last days is speaking about
the last era of time, meaning from Jesus time to the Kingdom Age when all evil
will be abolished.
Spoken
to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all
things, through whom also He made the worlds; In the NT Jesus speaks to us because God has appointed
Him heir of all things. Jesus speaks to us through the parables He taught, the
miracles He performed, the healings He did, all the verses of the NT, the OT
prophesies He fulfilled, etc. He speaks and all we have to do is listen, read,
and believe what He says is true and not pick and choose what we want to
believe. Hebrews 2:1-4 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to
the things we have heard, lest we drift away.
2 For if the word spoken through angels
proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just
reward, 3
how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first
began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,
4 God also bearing witness both with
signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit,
according to His own will? This is why some of the Israelites did not enter into the
promise land, because they were blind and could not see the truth in action and
believe. It is also true for the Scribes and Pharisees in Jesus and the
Apostles time, they didn’t recognize the truth, even though OT scripture was
used numerous times to give credibility to what was being preached. Even our
present time, people can’t recognize the truth when what is said is backed up with
scripture. Jesus is deity; John
1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in
the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him
nothing was made that was made. Revelation 19:13
He was clothed with a robe
dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
3 who being
the brightness of His glory and
the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His
power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of
the Majesty on high,
Who being the brightness of His glory; We all know that God is light, Jesus
is light, and Born Again Christians are light. This phrase also speaks of Jesus
deity. Throughout the Bible there are many instances where the presence of God
or Jesus, light is mentioned. Paul saw a bright light on the way to Damascus, Acts 22:11; the Israelites saw the shining of
Moses’ face, 2 Corinthians 3:7;
celestial light surrounds the angels, Revelation
18:1 and glorified saints, Luke
9:31-32; and to the dazzling splendor or majesty in which God is
enthroned; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; 2Peter 1:17; Revelation
15:8; Revelation 21:11, Revelation 21:23. “Brightness of His glory”,
signifies all that God has created are not as bright as Jesus. Jesus is light
of infinite perfection. He ranks above all!
And the express image of His person; The word used here - χαρακτὴρ charaktēr - likewise occurs nowhere else in
the New Testament. It is what our word “character” is derived. It properly
means an “engraving-tool;” and then something “engraved” or “stamped” - “a
character” - as a letter, mark, sign. Jesus is the image of God.
And upholding all things by the word
of His power; This
phrase tells of Jesus omnipotence. His power and all He has to do is speak
things into existence. He upholds or sustains all things, that is, the
universe. It is not merely the earth; not only its rocks, mountains, seas,
animals, and human beings, but it is the universe, all distant worlds. How can
he do this if He is not God? But He is God, He is part of the Trinity. He does
it by his word, his command. One simple command and it was done. So the world
was made when God “spake and it was done; he commanded and it stood fast;” Psalm 33:9. The Lord Jesus commanded the waves
and the winds to be still, and they were Matthew
8:26-27; he spoke to diseases and they departed, and to the dead and
they arose. Jesus has the power to do all things.
When He had by Himself purged our sins,
Sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; “By
himself, not by the blood of bulls and lambs, but by his own blood. This is
designed to bring in the grand feature of the Christian scheme, that the
purification made for sin was by his blood, instead of the blood which was shed
in the temple service. The word rendered here “purged” means “purified” or “expiated”. The literal rendering is, “having made
purification for our sins.” The purification or cleansing which he effected was
by his blood; see 1John 1:7 “The blood
of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.” This the apostle here states to have
been the great object for which he came, and having done this, he sat down on
the right hand of God; see Hebrews 7:27;
Hebrews 9:12-14. It was not merely to
teach that he came; it was to purify the hearts of people, to remove their
sins, and to put an end to sacrifices by the sacrificing himself.” (Barnes)
What
Jesus came to do He did, and when He stated it was “finished”, it was, and is
now seat at the right hand of our Father.
4 having
become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more
excellent name than they.
Having become so much better than the
angels; Remember this
is speaking of Jesus in human form. What did He do to become so much better
than the angel and the prophets of old? It was Him being the perfect sacrifice.
No other man can or could do what Jesus did. He had the power of God within
that no other man or angel could ever have.
This
phrase states that He “became so much better than the angels”. So was there a
time when angels were more powerful than Jesus? Yes, when Jesus was in human
form they were. When Jesus ascended into Heaven and sat at the right hand of
God Almighty, His power was restored as it was before He came to earth. The angels
ministered to Jesus at times, one being when He was in the desert.
As He has by inheritance; As a result of this sacrifice on the
Cross for us Jesus was empowered by God to be the King of Kings and Lord of
Lords.
Obtained
a more excellent name than they;
What name did Jesus receive for this act of love on the Cross for us so that we
would have a chance to be redeemed if we so choose to? We can find the answer
to this question in Philippians. Philippians
2:9-11 Therefore God also has highly
exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on
earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father.
5 For to
which of the angels did He ever say: "YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE
BEGOTTEN YOU"? And again: "I WILL BE TO HIM A FATHER, AND HE SHALL BE
TO ME A SON"?
The
questions posed in this verse, refers to the fact that Angels were never given
the name Son. Then it is brought to the attention of the Jewish Readers several
quotations from the Old Testament Scriptures (All capitalized phrases are from
the OT.). The answer to the questions in Verses 5 through 13 is that God never
spoke such words to an Angel, however exalted, but only to His Son the Messiah.
Have
you ever thought of this? Jesus always was and always will be. He never had a
birth or a death spiritually, but He did have a birth and death physically. He
had to become God’s son in human form in order to be the perfect sacrifice for
us so we could be redeemed by His eternal life sustaining blood. There was no
other way this could take place spiritually, so He had to become man in order
to shed His blood for us. This is the greatest display of Love by God and
Jesus, and one that we cannot comprehend. All we have to do to receive the gift
of Grace is recognize our sin nature, how awful we are in God’s eyes, repent of
our ways, and ask Jesus to help us live a lifestyle modeled after His.
Here
is another question to ponder. Jesus is God’s son now and for eternity, but was
He God’s son before His physical birth? The answer lies in this phrase, “I WILL
BE TO HIM A FATHER, AND HE SHALL BE TO ME A SON”. This phrase comes from II
Samuel 7:14 which was before
Jesus birth and is in the future tense, at that time Jesus was not recognized
as God’s son. This means that at the particular time the prophecy was uttered,
God was not known as “Father” or as “Son,” at least in the way we think. So
God the Son had to be born a man in order for the New Covenant to be
established for redemption.
6 But when
He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "LET ALL THE ANGELS
OF GOD WORSHIP HIM."
But when He again brings the firstborn
into the world; The
word “firstbegotten or firstborn” proclaims that God had never taken on human
form or any other form of similar nature.
"LET
ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM."; This phrase can also confuse the human mind, because when
Jesus came into the world He took upon the form of a servant, and was made in
the likeness of men, which was lower than the Angels, but still the Angels of
God worshipped Him. Although Jesus was now human, He was also Deity. In other
words, His Deity did not diminish at all. While He was “Man,” He was also
“God.” Philippians 2:5-11 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ
Jesus, 6
who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with
God, 7
but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of
men. 8
And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient
to the point of death, even the
death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given
Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father.
This can all be very mind boggling,
but what we have to do is believe and place our faith and trust in Jesus. It is
that simple childlike faith we need to put forth and not try to figure it out.
The Word is Jesus and Jesus is the Word. All we need to do is place our faith
in the Cross of Christ.
Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created
that are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All
things were created through Him and for Him.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Bill
Wiesbrock https://www.facebook.com/bill.wiesbrock?ref=tn_tnmn
The
Lighthouse Full Gospel Church
Sinners Prayer; Pray this, and if you believe it with
your heart, Jesus will save you!
“Lord Jesus I know I
am a sinner. I confess my sins to you; I
am sorry for my sins; I repent (Meaning, desiring to turn from a sinful
lifestyle.) of all my sins, and I am asking for your forgiveness of all of my
sins. I believe that only you can
forgive sin. I commit my life to you and
ask you to come into my heart, direct, and take charge of my life. I believe that you died to set me free from
my sinful lifestyle and you rose from the dead to give me eternal life, and
right now you are seated at the Right Hand of God Almighty. I believe you are
the Son of God; the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life, and my
Savior.” I believe this and have faith
you will make a new person out of me, by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in my
heart and lead me in a new life. In Jesus name I pray Amen.” (John 3:16,17;
Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1
John 5:11-14; 1:6-10) (Sin: Rom.
1:22-32; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-7)
